Hey everybody.
I have been out of the game for a few years while I started college and had to spend my money elsewhere. However, I am looking at getting back into the realm of racing at the local club. So a little backstory into what I ran. Everything I did was on dirt, ran 2wd mod buggy, mod SC, and a bunch of nitro stuff. With that said I wasn't great at any of them and I am just looking to have some fun on the weekends.

So what do I want to run: The local club has a really competitive 17.5 2wd buggy class, but its been a few years since I was around, and I have honestly never seen a mid motor buggy in my life. I know that's the carpet game now and the local track is carpet. So what chassis should I look at, what is a solid 17.5 motor and esc combo, and what is a good tx/rx system, and what servo should I look for?

Oh and Id like to stay as cheap as possible while being decently competitive, because I am still in college. Thanks yall.

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being you are starting BACK into the hobby. you will be surprised at the prices of stuff.

even 'used' is NOT cheap.
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that being said...

go to the local track... find out WHAT others are running...
that way. you can ask questions OR get help.. as you will have what they have...

rc racing a very long time.
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For 2wd buggy, I would suggest to ask people at the track and see whats popular, as they will be able to help you if you have troubles. You don't need to buy new, but I am currently running a Team Associated B6.1 right now and it is a blast, real easy to put together and the kit setup is very easy to drive. I would recommend Hobbywing products for your esc and motor, as they tend to be cheaper than other brands but still have plenty of power. I don't have a specific motor suggestion but you can buy a Hobbywing Justock esc for about $50 online. It is cheap, but is more than enough esc for a 17.5t motor. For a servo, I would suggest the $60 Savox 1258tg. I have 3 of them and have never had a problem with them. They do like power however so you may need a BEC when paired with the Justock esc. For tires, similar to the car, ask the fast guys what they are running and why, I currently run Proline Primes (front and back) in clay compound on carpet, while applying traction compound between each round.

For transmitter and receiver, this depends on what you want and how much you want to spend. I started with a $50 fly-sky transmitter and quickly upgraded to the $320 Sanwa mt-44 that basically does the same thing as the fly-sky, I just wanted more options to tune and play with.

But, because you specifically stated you were on a budget, before buying anything I would see if anyone at the track has any used cars they are selling. Many guys have multiple cars, motors, and escs they are trying to sell for a good price.

Does your track have an on-site shop? If so I would check to see what brands they support and limit your selection to only those brands. I'd hit up the locals on race day to see who's looking to sell their (no more than 1 release old chassis) most rollers should go for around $150, great way to stretch your dollar.

In my area the most popular 2WD brands on turf are XRay and Associated.

I prefer to run 4WD classes because they get almost double the lifespan of tire wear on the turf track in my area making 4WD significantly more economical over the long haul

i have an xray xb4 2017 in amazing condition with nice electronics. If you needed a receiver and remote, i could include that too.
its a 4wd buggy, but i can give you a good price if you are interested. if you dont want/need the electronics, i can sell it as a roller or slider. PM me if your interested. I was going to post it on ebay tonight

Go to the track and see what cars they support and whats popular first and then look here in the marketplace for deals . That is probably going to be the cheapest way to get back into the sport . I would recommend 17.5 buggy they are very fast these days and arguably the most competitive class almost everywhere .

You are going to have a blast. I would try to go to one race first before buying anything. I wouldn't be surprised if you find an awesome deal on something that works well for that track.

Im in the same boat. But I just bought a 5 1/2 acre property so the postponing of the hobby was well worth it. Now I have the room to build the 3 tracks I have always wanted. Anyhow. Tower hobbies has a special on TLR 22 4.0 2wd buggy right now for $200.00 shipped. It has the lay down and stand up transmission option. May want to look there. Plus from what I have been reading. Tekin has or will be having close outs on their RS Spec combo kits.(13.5, 17.5 motors with the esc) I think they are in the $230 range now. You can also pic up Spektrum Radio and receiver kits for around $150.00. All and all you could probably get a full new race kit up and going for around $600 with a battery or 2 and a charger.

If you've been out a few years, most of it will be very familiar, save the differences between carpet & dirt. Prices have not gone up, contrary to what's been written above. I'd recommend the Associated B6.1. It's fair to assume that this brand will be well supported anywhere you can find to race in the US and I feel that they do a better job than anyone else of putting the stuff you need in a kit (no need to radically change the setup with a bunch of aftermarket parts to be competitive) While the 22 4.0 sounds good for $200, it'll take another $50-100+ of stuff to make it run well on carpet.

Get a speed control that's rated for a little more than you're planning to do, something like the Hobbywing Justock or XR10 Stock spec is good, as is the tekin combo mentioned above.
Batteries are pretty easy- Hobby King Turnigy are good for the $$, as are SMC, Pro-Match.
Motor - Motiv are tough to beat. They hand-assemble + tune and prettty much give you what other brands sell as "Premium or Certified" at the standard price. Tekin Spec-r and Reedy S-Plus are also great choices that are reliably fast. I've been running Surpass motors lately with good success. This is a company that makes most of the other brand's stuff for them, but you'll need to buy from one of a couple guys here on RcTech. There's a thread on them in Radio/Electronics
Servo - as fast as you can get but whatever you choose must have metal gears. None of the current cars have servo-savers, if that was common when you last raced. Radio - shop around, the Airtronics MT-S is really good for the $$, but the rx's are a little pricey, if you expand to other classes later on. It's all pretty good. Decide on how much $$ you have to spend.